This paper explores and contrasts undergraduate medical and nursing students' experiences of the clinical learning environment. Using a sociocultural perspective of learning and an interpretative approach, 15 in-depth interviews with medical and nursing students were analysed with content analysis. Students' experiences are described using a…

This study considers social learning practices within and outside the overt curriculum. A thematic approach was used to analyse data from six focus group interviews with 11 graduate entry medical students from a UK university over a year of study. The results indicate that: (1) during their first year of study students form a community of learning…

The role of workplace supervisors in the clinical education of medical students is currently under debate. However, few studies have addressed how supervisors conceptualize workplace learning and how conceptions relate to current sociocultural workplace learning theory. We explored physician conceptions of: (a) medical student learning in the…

Cultural competent care is the ability to deliver effective medical care to people from different cultures. The lack of methodological rigor and paucity of psychometric properties information of the instruments limits the generalizability of cultural competency educational interventions. We examined cultural attitudes of first year medical…

In 2014, the School of Medicine Fremantle of the University of Notre Dame Australia initiated a study to explore the curriculum underpinning portfolios used by first-year medical students. The School had used portfolios since 2005 and judged it timely to consider digital technologies as a mechanism to enhance student learning and improve…

Simulation as a tool for medical education has gained considerable importance in the past years. Various studies have shown that the mastering of basic skills happens best if taught in a realistic and workplace-based context. It is necessary that simulation itself takes place in the realistic background of a genuine clinical or in an accordingly…

Mismatches between the needs of public health systems and student interests have led to renewed study on the factors predicting career specializations among medical students. While most work examines career and lifestyle values, emotional proclivities may be important; disgust sensitivity may help explain preferences for careers with greater and…

A preliminary experimental study examined brain wave frequency patterns of female participants (N = 14) engaged in two different art making conditions: clay sculpting and drawing. After controlling for nonspecific effects of movement, quantitative electroencephalographic (qEEG) recordings were made of the bilateral medial frontal cortex and…

Surgical anatomy is taught early in medical school training. The literature shows that many physicians, especially surgical specialists, think that anatomical knowledge of medical students is inadequate and nesting of anatomical sciences later in the clinical curriculum may be necessary. Quantitative data concerning this perception of an…

Pre-clinical anatomy curricula must provide medical students with the knowledge needed in a variety of medical and surgical specialties. But do physicians within specialties agree about what anatomical knowledge is most important in their practices? And, what is the common core of anatomical knowledge deemed essential by physicians in different…

Sleep disorders affect millions of Americans and are directly associated with many deadly diseases, including neurological disorders. Despite this impact, sleep medicine education is not included in many U.S.-based neurology residency education programs, resulting in under-diagnosed patients and missed therapeutic opportunities. This study aims to…

Learning to monitor and regulate one's learning in an academic setting is a task that all students must engage in. Learning in "group" situations requires both self- and co-regulation. This research examines a case study of a small group of medical student interactions during an on-line problem based learning activity (PBL) where…

Cognitive apprenticeship theory emphasizes the process of making expert thinking "visible" to students and fostering the cognitive and meta-cognitive processes required for expertise. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the use of cognitive apprenticeship theory with the primary aim of understanding how and to what extent the…

University students have ready access to quality learning resources through learning management systems (LMS), online library collections and generic search tools. However, anecdotal evidence suggests they sometimes turn to peer-based sharing rather than sourcing resources directly. We know little about this practice--how common it is, what sort…

With limited problem-solving capability and practical experience, novices have difficulties developing expert-like performance. It is important to make the complex problem-solving process visible to learners and provide them with necessary help throughout the process. This study explores the design and effects of a model-based learning approach…